The top photo is from our first RV trip to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta about 4 years ago. This is a spectacular event to attend in a motorhome or trailer. You are way closer to the action than if you stayed in a hotel. Often the balloons land right in the area where you are parked, there is free transport to and from the fiesta, and this is by far the least expensive way to go.
I have been RVing using motorhomes since 1980, so this is my 39th year. Like almost all travel RVing has it’s pluses and minuses. If you have not traveled this way start this year. If you are living outside North America then fly here and rent a motorhome. Many of my business associates from Europe have done this and really enjoyed themselves. It is very easy to rent an RV in the United States and you can learn to drive one easily assuming that we are talking about something shorter than 30ft. For beginners 25ft is a good starting point to rent. Huge ones like our bus take a LOT more practice to get the driving right.
This is our Country Coach Affinity and the Jeep Wrangler we tow. We have owned the bus over ten years and the Jeep for over 5. Learning to use a big bus like this takes effort, but using a small motorhome or trailer is very easy. A big rig like what we drive is expensive to maintain and buy. A small trailer or motorhome is not. If you already have a truck you are half the way to getting out of town in a trailer. If you are new to RVing rent first. My strong recommendation is to rent several times and several different types of motorhomes before you buy. I cringe when I see posted on RV forums that someone has sold their house and is buying a new $400,000 motorhome and has never been on the road in one before. What if they don’t like it? What if you buy a 40 foot bus and your style of RVing is more attuned to a mini motorhome to camp in National and State parks.
When you RV you go to places in the beautiful United States that are seldom visited by people who travel by plane or car. Like Fort Peck Montana. It is one of the most awesome scenery places I have ever been to. It is way out there in eastern Montana and I only found out about it because I got the AAA tour guide and took their recommendation to go. I did add just a bit of color to the above photo but this one is right out of the camera.
The above shot of the lake at Fort Peck is exactly how I got the photo back from the developer. I shot it with a 30+ year old Olympus OM2n and Kodak Ekar film. And North Coast Photographic in Carlsbad CA developed it. If you use film and need a reliable lab that will turn out shots like the one above use North Coast. They happily do mail order. And are fast.
One of the features of RV travel that I love is the fact that when you close the door on the rig you own or one you have rented and start off your vacation begins. That does not happen when you are flying off to some place like Italy. A year and a half ago we flew to Venice and even though American Airlines did a pretty good job it was still about 18 hours of uncomfortable. Some nit wit behind me played chess on the screen back of my head all night and so kept me awake all night. No one should call that the beginning of their vacation. When I get into our bus and take off I am in a big comfortable captain’s chair and I enjoy driving our Country Coach. I also like the fact that once we get there we have a Jeep Wrangler to drive and often go to places most cars cannot.
We have not been out in our coach since the end of last summer and I am excited to go. Of course things can happen like bad weather, bad campsite, crummy restaurant food, but we are not going far and I know the place we are going has hot mineral tubs outside so you can take a warm-hot soak and see the Milky-Way. Plus we get to take our dog, who keeps us company. See you on the road.
Bob Nuttmann 